Strategy
Strategic planning
Why strategic planning is a good idea
In an increasingly competitive environment, budget or forecast, based planning isn’t enough to help a business grow and prosper in a sustainable fashion. Strategic planning is the best way to ensure a business is profitable and sustainable over the long term.
What is “strategy”?
Strategy is all about developing an offer that is unique and value-added. This means deciding what actions to take and not take to ensure a company’s activities fit together as seamlessly as possible. To define a strategy, it’s necessary to stay open to emerging opportunities and adapting to them. And, ultimately, it involves planning for the future and having a succession plan to ensure the company’s continuity.
Our approach
Many senior executives are reluctant to call on the services of strategic planning professionals because they fear it will be a long, costly process. What sets Guimond Lavallée’s approach apart is that it adapts to the needs of clients. We’ll provide step-by-step or ad hoc guidance and put our expertise, experience, tools and methodology at your service based on your needs.
In most cases, our clients already know the answers to their questions. They don’t need to be told what to do. Rather, they need structured guidance to complete their analyses and considerations. When it’s time to establish a strategic plan, it should be based on a solid, rigorous and structured analysis rather than based on instincts.
Planning and strategy implementation follow-up
Many businesses struggle to bridge the chasm between developing a strategy and implementing it. While senior executives may have the proper perspective to define an excellent strategy, for a variety of reasons they can’t seem to implement it.
While the strategic plan lead-in process is important, executing the plan is just as important. Doing so requires thoroughness, discipline and, ideally, a strategic management system. The latter makes it possible for senior executives to structure and monitor the implementation of the strategy and measure its costs and impacts. Once an action plan has been developed, it’s crucial to set clear expectations, timelines and performance indicators for each goal or action.
We’ve developed a strategic management approach inspired by lean management. This approach helps structure an effective implementation of the strategy while making continuous improvement possible. Therefore, we can offer clients a comprehensive solution to implement their strategy.